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Please help. Bisoprolol withdrawal and weaning offys

Posted , 6 users are following.

Aj1986
★2

hi everyone I’m new here.

i was given Bisoprolol less than 2 months ago for tachycardia (120-130 bpm).

ive done countless EKGs and an echo a stress test and a 24 hr monitor, and blood tests to rule out a heart condition. 

My problem is the beta blocker, when the incident happened I took Bisoprolol 2.25 mg and it helped reduce my heart rate but caused chest pain, couldn’t eat, couldn’t walk or go out I was a complete zombie.

didnt take it the next day and was fine, but the day after my heart felt like it was shaking my body with how hard it was pumping and had to go to the emergency room again and the doctor there said my heart rate wasn’t that high and that this was an anxiety attack, and I should take the Bisoprolol and gave me an appointment with the cardiologist.

went to the cardiologist and said my heart was fine and strong and that I can stop the drug any time I want and manage my stress.

I cut the pill in half (1.25 mg) cause I felt like crap on the higher dose, then a few days later boom another attack but this time I had the flu which made it 100 times worse. I thought I would die, my heart was pounding for an hour till I took my next dose.

this kept happening for a few days every night I’d wake up with a very fast heart beat and would calm down by the time I took my dose.

anywa

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  • Aj1986
    ★2

    Posted

    Anyways, a couple of weeks after taking 1.25 of Bisoprolol I decided to cut that in half, a couple of days later the fast heart beat came back and lasted for a couple of days, then decided to cut that dose in half and the attacks still happened but were less severe.

    now I’m on what I think is 0.25 maybe 0.30 I have no idea it’s like a grain of sand at this point. But I’m truly affraid or event stopping this dose. It’s so small that I cannot believe it has this hold on my nervous system.

    my symptoms at this moment is extreme physical anxiety that starts in the pit of my stomach and radiates to my heart every morning that lasts all day, I take a Xanax when it’s really bad which helps.

    i get dizzy when I’m out or at work which causes my heart rate to go fast

    i wear an Apple Watch and my heart rate shoots up to really crazy numbers from resting 80 bmp to 120 even 130 just by walking upstairs or going to the bathroom.

    i am physically better than when I was on the higher dose thank god but this extreme anxiety is insane. The funny thing is this anxiety lasts all day but when it’s night time I’m more relaxed than ever and my heart rate dips to the mid 70s mid 80s.

    my question is, how long till I start skipping days on the current dose I’m taking cause I want off this drug. It took my life away and I hate the doctor and myself for every taking it.

    any success stories here ? Anyone going through something similar ? Any advice ?

    it literally feels like I’m going to die and I fight to stay alive every day I get out of bed

    i take high doses of magnesium

    holy basil

    i try to eat well

     

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    • christine_20029
      ★3 Aj1986

      Posted

      Hi.

      Really.sorry you having such a hard time with Bisoprolol. Can relate exactly what you going through as my problem similar. Have been on Bisoprolol 1.25mg for around 17 months for sinus tachycardia. Am trying, like yourself to slowly wean off as the side effects are horrible. I have the same anxiety issues as you. They wake me every early morning with intense fast heartrate...from 130-160. I am frightened so much but keep telling myself it's anxiety. But when you feel your heart going so fast and cannot breathe it puts sense out of the window and l go into panic mode, which accelerates it even more. I drink lots of cold water, that does help and l also have to resort at times, to taking another grain of the Bisoprolol. It mostly calms down after a while, but l tend to read then to distract myself. What a situation all because of this drug!

      After tea last night l Sat watching tv and out of nowhere my heart started racing at 141, for what reason l don't know.

      So l know exactly what is happening to you. My advice would be carry on doing what you are doing but maybe slower, i.e. take your grains for longer with more days between until you feel ok on that dose, then reduce a tiny bit more. I've found even though l am going slow with weaning the fast heartrate will still hit me at random times but am going to persevere until l get off them. My Dr said l can do this and then keep them on standby for when/if they start up. This is my plan as l know l will need some back up with the diagnosis l have had.

      I hope you feel able to go forward with ypur plan and that eventually things work out fine for you. Good luck and let me know how you go on.

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    • Aj1986
      ★2 christine_20029

      Posted

      Hi Christine,

      Thank you so much for taking the time to reply.

      I’ve only taken this drug for just under 2 months and I started the weaning off a month after taking it.

      I was suffering with tachycardia that wouldn’t go down without taking my dose. Thank god at this stage of reducing the dose I don’t get that anymore. My heart has been skipping beats and going fast and slowing down.

      Hopefully I can completely stop it this month, I just want to know how. 

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    • annie78444
      ★3 Aj1986

      Posted

      Hi, Aj, the problem is that in response to the locking of your adrenergic receptor cells, more are produced, of at least that is what i understood when i was weaning off another bb.  so you have to wait for your body to adjust.   but the thing is, some people need something - whether to slow the heart rate or to keep blood pressure down. i cannot take other bp drugs, they all work, in tiny doses, but the side effects are too much, so i am stuck with a bb which lowers bp and heart rate, tho even a small amount has effects - if the dose is late i get an irritable, anxious feeling i never have when of meds.  if you do not need the meds now, and your doctor agrees, it is still best to stay on a small dose for months then reduce a bit, etc, your body has to have time to adapt, even if it takes months. i am having to cut back again now, just so do not get acclimatised to the medication and start to need more.
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    • Aj1986
      ★2 annie78444

      Posted

      Hi Annie, thanks for the reply. 

      I thought I was the only one, what I noticed is now I don’t have insane tachycardia like I did when I tried weaning off on the higher dose. Now it’s just the incredibly unbearable anxiety. I’m literally taking a grain of sand which is probably 0.25 or 0.30. It does nothing for me I’m just scared of just stopping. I’ve been on this dose for around 4 days and today I feel a little better. I just want off of these things. I’m taking Xanax when it gets over whelming and it does help. 

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  • Crys7
    ★3 Aj1986

    Posted

    Have you had other test run, to rule out autoimmune disorders like a ANA test or lyme disease?
    Report Reply
    • Aj1986
      ★2 Crys7

      Posted

      I’ve been sent to a neurologist for testing for autoimmune diseases but not lime. I live in the Middle East and there’s no testing for that here.
      Report Reply
  • peter01729
    ★5 Aj1986

    Posted

    I have been off Bisoprolol completely now for 14 or 15 months and finally my heart rate is pretty much back to what it was before all this started. My breathlessness and low oxygen levels when asleep also seem to have recovered after all this time. My 14 month beta blocker cough is almost completely gone. About the only symptom that remains is the complete exhaustion and feeling I have been given brain damage by this drugs reduction of the oxygen supply to my brain, I feel quite unbalanced, especially when I am tired. 
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    • Aj1986
      ★2 peter01729

      Posted

      Thanks for the reply.

      Any advice how to wean off and when the withdrawal should start getting better ? After stopping ? 

      Happy for you, why were you given beta blockers to begin with?

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    • christine_20029
      ★3 peter01729

      Posted

      So glad Peter you are recovering after that terrible time you had with the Bisoprolol. I suppose there is light at the end of the tunnel after all, even though you had to fight every inch of the way to get there. Best wishes.
      Report Reply
    • peter01729
      ★5 Aj1986

      Posted

      I wasn't weaned off, the Cardiologist wanted to do an EP study for an ablation so just said to stop taking them five days before, I was prescribed them for Ventricular Tachycardia, of course as soon as I stopped taking them, the VT was far worst than it was before, so I ended up in hospital were they pumped me full of massive amounts of Bisoprolol, even though I told them not to as it would stop my EP study from working, (which it did!), so I then had to stop taking it cold turkey again!

      The side effects I got from Bisoprolol, some of them remain, some seemed to have finally gone after 14 months.

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    • Aj1986
      ★2 peter01729

      Posted

      I’m glad you are off them for good. I honestly notice that after greatly reducing the dose my physical symptoms are no where near severe as they used to be. I hope it gets better and not worse.

      Thanks 

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